St. Joseph's Veterans rehab plan moves forward
By Chris Knight, Adirondack Daily Enterprise Staff Writer
Printed: Adirondack Daily Enterprise March 31, 2010
SARANAC LAKE - The board of directors of St. Joseph's Addiction Treatment andRecovery Centers has purchased the property in the village where its 58-bed inpatientfacility is located from the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement, which used toown and run the facility.St. Joseph's is also moving forward with plans for a new $3.5 million community residence in Saranac Lake for veterans suffering from both addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder. The nonprofit organization has also recently purchased the site it had been renting for an outpatient clinic in Ticonderoga.
"We've obviously got a lot going on right now," said St. Joseph's CEO Bob Ross during an interview with the Enterprise on Tuesday.
The Garrison-based Friars of the Atonement, which founded St. Joseph's in 1971, sold the 26-acre property in Saranac Lake last month to the St. Joseph's board for $1.48 million. The move comes just over a year after the friars agreed to transfer governance of the rehabilitation center to the St. Joseph's board.
Ross said the changes will allow St. Joseph's to pursue state grant funding to pay for more than $8 million in much-needed repairs and renovations to the Saranac Lake site. Without the change in governance, the Friars would have had to seek a loan and carry a significant amount of debt, he explained.
"At the end of 2008, they concluded that it was in the best interest of the St. Joseph's mission, the residents who we serve and all of our staff to pursue this option," Ross said.
Not long after the change in governance was agreed upon, the friars decided to sell the property to the St. Joseph's board, although Ross said that was an option, not a requirement, of the agreement. The money to buy the property was provided to St. Joseph's from the state Dormitory Authority and state Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services. The $1.48 million purchase price was determined using professional appraisers and represents its "fair market value," Ross said.
Ross emphasized that the sale of the property and the governance change was not spurred on by a desire from St. Joseph's to distance itself from the Friars. He said the changes were made in the interest of continuing their mission.
Last year, Ross said St. Joseph's worked toward that end by bringing the friars to Saranac Lake frequently to meet with staff "to reinforce the mission, the spirituality and what makes St. Joseph's special."
"We, by no means, want to lose that close connection with the Friars," Ross said.
St. Joseph's is now seeking state funding to carry out the renovations and repairs.
Jim Grant, left, director of communications and development director at St. Joseph's Addiction Treatment and Recovery Centers, looks over budget information with accounting coordinator Mary Ellen Begor. (Enterprise photo — Chris Knight)
"We haven't received that yet, but it's in the process," said Jim Grant, St. Joseph's communications and development director. "We fully expect to have that come through."---
Veterans facility
In September 2008, St. Joseph's was one of four addiction centers in New York awarded a share of $25 million to increase the number of beds available statewide for combat veterans suffering from both substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.
The veterans community residence, which will be built on the existing St. Joseph's campus in Saranac Lake, is expected to have a $3.5 million construction budget and an annual operating budget of more than $1 million.
St. Joseph's officials hoped to have the 25-bed facility built and operating by now, but the state money was tied up in red tape and Albany's budget crisis.
Ross said Tuesday, however, that he expects to break ground on the veterans residence later this year and open with clients in 2011.
"I think we have that commitment from the state now," he said.
St. Joseph's has already hired 12 new employees in the last two years, and plans to hire up to 17 more staff to serve the new facility.
Ross said St. Joseph's is working closely with Dr. Edward Tick, an expert on post-traumatic stress disorder, to develop its veterans program. He said it will continue the tradition of healing in Saranac Lake that began about 125 years ago with the work of Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau, who established a Saranac Lake sanatorium to treat tuberculosis patients.
"I think we're very fortunate to be in a community that has that sense of commitment and responsibility to people who have needs," Ross said. "The difference this will make is that not only the soldiers that are returning but also their families will have access to meaningful support."
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Ticonderoga
St. Joseph's recently received $750,000 from the state to purchase and renovate the site it had been renting for an outpatient clinic in Ticonderoga. The sale closed earlier this month. Ross said the move will save St. Joseph's more than $30,000 a year in rent.
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Overall
St. Joseph's has a $7 million budget and employs 140 people who provide treatment to more than 300 men and women at its inpatient facility in Saranac Lake, and more than 1,300 clients at its outpatient clinics in Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Ticonderoga, Elizabethtown and Malone.
The cost of treatment per resident at St. Joseph's inpatient facility averages $20,000. Ninety-five percent of those costs are covered by Medicaid, with 2 percent of clients paying via private insurance and 3 percent paying for their own treatment. St. Joseph's generally treats those in later stages of addiction who have exhausted less intensive options.
St. Joseph's will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year.
---Contact Chris Knight at 891-2600 ext. 24 or cknight@adirondackdailyenterprise.com.